August 11

August 11 is the 224th day of the year, and the American record for it runs from 1898 to 1992 — a span of 94 years. The entry that anchors it: "We begin bombing in five minutes", 1984.

In the postwar nineteenth century the date tracks a nation rebuilding. In 1898, Spanish–American War — American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

In the first half of the twentieth century the date turns technological. In 1929, the first Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic, the oldest and largest African-American parade in the United States, was held in Chicago.

The postwar entries show a nation both expanding and contesting itself. In 1965, Race riots (the Watts Riots) begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California. Four years on, in 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts are released from a three-week quarantine following their liftoff from the Moon. Three years on, in 1972, Vietnam War — the last United States ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam. Five years on, in 1977, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initiated an investigation into the alleged vulnerability of the Ford Pinto to fuel leakage and fire in a rear-end collision. Seven years on, in 1984, "We begin bombing in five minutes" — United States President Ronald Reagan, while running for re-election, jokes while preparing to make his weekly Saturday address on National Public Radio.

Closer to the present, the date is still accumulating. In 1992, the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, opened as the largest shopping mall in the United States.

The date is also a birthday. Among the Americans born on August 11: James B. Longacre (1794), American engraver; David Rice Atchison (1807), American general, lawyer, and politician; William W. Chapman (1808), American lawyer and politician; Robert G. Ingersoll (1833), American soldier, lawyer, and politician; and Warren Brown (1836), American historian and politician.

August 11 is also a date of endings. Among the Americans who died on it: Andrew Carnegie (1919), Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist, founded the Carnegie Steel Company and Carnegie Hall; Edith Wharton (1937), American novelist and short story writer; Jackson Pollock (1956), American painter; and Antanas Škėma (1961), Lithuanian-American author, playwright, actor, and director.

August 11 carries 8 entries spread across 94 years. None of the people in them knew they were sharing a date; that is a pattern only visible looking back.